


Just Two Boys

by SonglordsBug



Series: two boys and a droid [1]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Gen, Headcanon, the boys grew up together, the origin of bb8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:07:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23289754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonglordsBug/pseuds/SonglordsBug
Summary: Headcanony ramble about Poe and Ben growing up together.
Relationships: Poe Dameron & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: two boys and a droid [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1674883
Kudos: 4





	Just Two Boys

**Author's Note:**

> crossposting from stumblr

Alright, so the ‘Poe’s parents were Rebel heroes’ theory makes sense to me. This means that a young Poe was probably dragged along to a bunch of symbolic stuff, as was a young Ben Solo (or Organa if you prefer).

Now, little Ben had a lot of eyes and expectations on him, after all he was the child of the Big Three (because there was no way he wasn’t just as important to his Uncle Luke as to his parents). So Ben ends up awkward and shy and unseen.

Except then we have Poe, who is a wonderful human being who looked at a Stormtrooper and went 'you want out? okay cool. what do you mean you have a number not a name? I’m giving you a name. you survived!? dude, keep the jacket!’ Poe was totally able to look at Ben and see just Ben, not his parent’s son, but just another boy.

And they end up friends, if only because there are not a lot of people their age going to all the symbolic stuff. The boys like wandering off and getting into trouble… and Poe takes the blame because he’s a year or two older, but he doesn’t mind when the adventures they go on bring smiles to his too-solemn, too-serious friend.

But then, still fairly early on, when Ben is say five or six, they’re exploring some vast market area and there’s some sort of encounter. Poe’s memories of it are always fuzzy, but he remembers there was a being who mostly ignored him and was interested in Ben. Ben doesn’t talk about it, and Poe won’t find out for a long time, but that’s when the whispers start, that’s when Ben starts hearing a voice in his head whispering away all the time.

Both boys are Force sensitive (that’s how this universe works, the best pilots are Force sensitive, and Poe is the best). Luke has been starting up a system to train and teach the Force sensitive, with the hope that he can revive the Jedi order. But there’s only one of him, and now that the Empire isn’t hunting down Force sensitives, there are an increasing number of them.

He gives each one he finds a choice. There are those who choose to ignore their sensitivity, this has always been true, and those he leaves alone. There are those who embrace their sensitivity, usually the strongest, the ones who can feel the Universe on their skins all the time, these go with Luke and stay for training. And then there are those who are interested, but have other passions. Luke arranges for them to come visit on training days several times a year and they mostly learn how to meditate and feel the Force better.

Ben goes to live with Luke, but Poe only comes to visit- his first passion is flying after all and all he really wants is to spend his days flying through the galaxy. But even as they get older, the boys stay close.

Ben will eventually tell Poe a little about the voice in his head- with a promise from Poe that he won’t tell anyone.

Poe will continue to do his best to make his increasingly serious friend smile and have fun. [There’s an incident when Poe is twelve where he convinces Ben to go joyriding on a speeder with him… Poe ends up with a broken arm but swears that the wide smile and delighted laughter he coaxed from Ben made it worth it.]

When Poe gets close to the point that he will need his own astromech for his piloting course, he goes to Ben for help. The boys pass a number of afternoons and weekends messing around with wires and scrap metal and eventually paint. It takes eight tries before they produce a satisfactory Ben Bot as Poe dubs the little round orange and white astromech.

One of the only things Ben ever pushes him about is focused training in shielding his mind. Poe sees something in Ben’s eyes that keeps him from arguing and they practice every time they see each other.

Then one day a couple of days before the next visiting learner’s day to the new Jedi temple, Poe gets a holo from Ben while he’s packing. Their conversation devolves into a fight and Poe doesn’t understand the look of satisfaction that crosses his friend’s face as he slams off the holo. Hurt and angry, Poe flies away.

He’s at the other end of the galaxy when Kylo Ren attacks. A trained Force sensitive, Poe feels the death and fear and pain from there. But more than that, he feels a sudden aching gap where his best friend has been for about as long as he can remember. It’s a gap he can’t leave alone as finishes his pilot training and the First Order rises. It doesn’t feel the same as the gaps left by others who have died and he doesn’t understand why.

Then he joins the Resistance and General Leia Organa pulls him aside and tells him that Ben wasn’t killed by Kylo Ren, Ben was Kylo Ren. Poe takes that in and realizes the gap has felt like where a baby tooth came out, and that what he’s been feeling is the adult tooth growing in. He meets Leia’s eyes and says

“Someday we’ll meet again, and then I’ll either be able to find Ben somewhere inside him, or I’ll know that Ben is gone and I’ll make sure Kylo Ren dies.”


End file.
